re: Formula 1 2022 Preseason Thread

Will be interesting to see if Merc has the dominance this year with the new cars…

My rooting order top 3

Mcclaren
Ferrari
RB (will move to 1 if Merc comes out of the gate dominant)

I guess I’m team Ferrari.

Go Ferrari!

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Newey would be my bet when it comes to aero and building a car.

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I ask this mostly in jest, but are we sure Adrian's brain is back to 100% post injuries? But that aside if I were betting on a current designer it would be Newey, still sad Ferrari couldn't poach him in 2014. 20 million pounds wasn't enough, the Scuderia should have made a "strong-arse offer" instead.

That being said David Sanchez isn't a slouch either but doesn't get the press some others have. His SF71H had elements copied by everyone including the Silver Arrows.

One other thing I have been considering is I think Mercedes has an inside track because I think they will keep their HP advantage and maybe increase it. With RB losing Honda engines though not the Honda IP and Ferrari sticking with a conventional turbo I think Merc will likely have the most power on the grid. The problem for everyone else is that the new aero regulations make it rather easy to produce downforce so I think the key may be power which falls into Merc's lap.

Power is of even further importance because the minimum weight has gone up and the 10% sustainable fuel requirement is expected to cost teams ~20hp.


I am actually ready for another big technical "innovation" and by that, I mean a REALLY creative interpretation of the technical regs. Gimme a mass damper, toluene/diesel fuel, water cooled brakes topped off with 120 pounds of lead shot after the race, frozen fuel etc. These namby pamby flexible wings just aren't getting it for me. All these Netflix noobies think 2021 had chicanery but I am hoping an F1 team will revive the spirit of Smokey Yunick so we can have some real fun.


The last paragraph is mostly sarcasm, but not really.

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but are we sure Adrian's brain is back to 100% post injuries? 

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It was stated that he was the difference with RBR between Turkey and COTA this year. He wasn't in Turkey and told them over the phone where they fricked up on the setup when he was watching on TV. Said the fire is supposedly back after fricking off with the Valkyrie project or whatever.

I do hope someone pulls something out thier arse, but the new FIA seems to be all about mid-season rules to takw away those advantages.

DAS was cool for a second, but any kind of high tech setup gets stopped because it costs money. Or like the F-duct too many people ask questions.

Another McLaren fan checking in....but I will also be rooting for Bottas. I really hope Alfa has a competitive car for him.

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At least F1 is finally catching up to IndyCar with the underfloor tunnels.

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BTW if people get tired of my F1 history laden posts in these modern F1 threads lemme know, I tend to see everything through a historical lens and generally can't shut up about it.

Ground effects first appeared in motorsport via the brain of Jim Hall who was an American with an unusual mix of racing and engineering skills. He got his start with Caroll Shelby. He raced in F1 in the early 60s. He brought a plethora of innovations to motorsport if anyone wants to go down a rabbit hole.

Gordon Murry's Brabham BT46 was actually not the first fan car. It was an idea copied from Hall's Chaparral 2J used in Can-Am in 1970. The Chap 2J had a two-cycle engine that ran two fans to evacuate air and while it was banned like the BT46B it typically out qualified its opponents by 2 seconds per lap. The really cool thing about a fan car is they have constant downforce where other forms of producing downforce increase and decrease with speed. They are monsters in the low speed corners. The Chap 2J was also the first car to have skirts to increase the ground effects benefits. So the Chaparral 2J was the first effective ground effects car, the first skirted car, and the first fan car. Of Note Hall had been trying ground effects since 1960.

Inspired by Buckley's work Colin Chapman with his Lotus started the F1 ground effects era in the late 70s. Chapman had sponsored the work of Shawn Buckley at UC Berkeley and later at MIT starting in the late 60s. Buckley was the one that invented the Indy high wing first seen on the "bat car" in IIRC 1966. Buckley's work culminated in the Lotus 78, the first F1 ground effects car, and was used in 1977 and 1978. When it became clear the side skirts were dangerous (they liked to fly when a curb broke the suction) they were banned in '81.

With the skirt banning Lotus developed a twin chassis car but never raced it and Brabham used pneumatics to lower the car during the race. When it became clear teams were going to work around most regulations ground effects were banned in 1983 and the flat floors were brought in.

I said all that to point out that ground effects cars were used in F1 starting in 1977 and the first IndyCar to use ground effects was in 1979. It was the Chaparral 2K designed by John Barnard and driven by Al Unser Sr.




BTW Gordon Murray is building an incredible road car with a fan the T.50 which along with the old McLaren F1 will leave an incredible legacy for him just on the road car side.

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It's frickin' free downforce and cleaner air!

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This is something I have been thinking about the last few weeks. The regulations are designed to produce a less turbulent wake but there may be a twist. F1 builds its technical regulations around requirements and limits that are designed to produce a specific outcome but in this case, they don't require that the outcome actually occur. So if I am a team principal I will tell my car designers to build the fastest car within the regs THEN go back and try to actually dirty the air back up in the wake without a significant reduction in speed and within the regulations. I want the car to meet the regulations but I also want it to be ineffective at diffusing the turbulence up and out making it hard to follow just like the current setup.

I don't know how much of that can be accomplished but I gotta think it is being considered.

Actually Smokey Yunick had the first wing car at Indy.



He didn't have enough development time or dollars, but did run this in practice. It created too much downforce, slowing the car too much on the straights, but his driver never had to lift in the corners.

The right idea. Just too much of a good thing.

He was a B17 pilot in WWII, so was always interested in aerodynamics.

The Chaparell 2J when the "sucker fans" are fired up. The car drops purely from the vacuum under the car. Has a pretty aggressive camber curve as well. Typical with the bias ply slicks of the day.

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Or like the F-duct too many people ask questions.

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Ferrari ruined that with their wrist activation which led to the in-car camera picking up FA basically driving with no hands. I mean it was Fernando, he probably was fine considering the 6 tenths he carries with him.* Then Domenicali fumbled around the answer when they ambushed him about it on the pitlane. He tried the car is so good it is fine answer, apparently Ferrari beat Tesla to the self-driving car.

Building a legal car is for suckers, you need to build a car that is not illegal. Designers that can't parse the difference build losing cars.



* I argue it must have been Mclaren's property since he seemed to have left it there.

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The 60's and 70's was easily the best era for motor racing in all forms. Will never be equaled.

Can Am will never happen again.

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The 80s and 90s were no slouches either. RIP:

Group B rally cars
Group C sports cars
IMSA GTP
Mid-90s DTM
Late-90s FIA GT1

All the best stuff eventually gets out-of-hand cost-wise or becomes too dangerously fast. F1 is the only series that has survived spiraling costs. The most recent disappointment was Audi and Porsche pulling out of LMP1, but the Le Mans Hypercar promises to bring manufacturers back.

Oh, also motorcycle development was spectacular in the 80s and 90s.